London & Partners

Eleanor Simmonds
photographed by Finlay
MacKay (Road To 2012)
ELLIE SIMMONDS
AGE: 17. SPORT: SWIMMER
If you’re looking for good omens or signs of form going into the Olympic and Paralympic Games, you would do
well to find any better portent than swimmer Ellie Simmonds becoming the first person to set a world record at
London’s purpose-built Aquatics Centre. She did so in a warm-up meeting in March this year, beating her own
previous time in the 200m individual medley by more than half a second. Perhaps it is not surprising when you
consider Simmonds’ past form in the sport.
The youngest member of both the Team GB Paralympic and Olympic squads at Beijing in 2008, the then
13-year-old Simmonds swam to victory in the S6 category of the 100m and 400m freestyle. Her 100m
performance was particularly impressive. Simmonds had been behind Mirjam de Koning-Peper in qualifying times,
but got the better of her Dutch rival in the final to record a memorable win. In addition to the quality of her victory,
Simmonds’ post-race tears only further endeared her to the British public and she has since become one of the
country’s most high-profile Paralympians.
In the aftermath, the teenager became Britain’s youngest ever MBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours and now
splits her time between hometown Sutton Coldfield in England and her training base in Swansea, Wales. Since
Beijing, Simmonds’ rivalry with Koning-Peper has continued to simmer, and if all goes to plan, it could come to
a full and spectacular boil in London this summer.
IMAGE © FINLAY MACKAY – NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY/
BT ROAD TO 2012 PROJECT
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